Rose
by Obiwanakin
Summary: Being Rose Lalonde came with a couple issues, such as hating Valentine's Day while at the same time remaining a hopeless romantic.


Your name is Rose Lalonde, and you feel physically sick.

It could be because of the pollen through the air and irritating your allergies, but it was most likely due to the numerous abundance of pink and purple hearts and streamers lining your school's hallways, offices, and lunchroom, signaling the soon-coming annual school dance.

Woe is you for it is Valentine's Day. You wish you could just skip through the whole day but you can't, it is impossible. Impossible to shove away, impossible to get through the hallways, impossible to ignore the way Kanaya clips thoughtfully at some red construction paper. Kanaya obviously has a Valentine, so why don't you? Because you are lowlier than a worm.

"Rose, be a dear and hand me that stick of paste."

The girl's enchanting voice breaks you out of your thoughts. The two of you are sitting in the library where you're supposed to be studying. Instead, you're wasting time fuming in your anger with foolish pink holidays.

Nonetheless, you hand Kanaya the gluestick.

"Why thank you."

"You're welcome."

Who would want you? You are nothing but a lowly fly on the window that is life. Your face is too pale, your eyes aren't very bright, and your personality is dull at most. Compared to the other girls, you were nothing, nothing at all.

"I'm going back to class." You say quietly as you move from the table. You glance at the little red thing Kanaya is pasting and snipping away at, then you move on, heading aimlessly from the classroom and down the hallway until you reach the women's bathroom where you fall and collapse in an ungracefully pouty heap.

So what if today was the day of love and romance? So what if you have no suitors of your own? You had Jaspers at home and that's all that matters to you.

But Kanaya, darling, _darling_ Kanaya... Kanaya with the beautiful glowing skin, and the hair made of dark silk, and the facial structure of Athena herself. You could taste that enchanting perfume in her air, the scent climbing down your nostrils to rest on your tongue.

God, you are so hopelessly in love with the other girl.

After a moment you stand, straightening your skirt and shirt, then you exit the bathroom right as the bell rings. You head to your next class, PE with Coach Strider. As you walk through the suddenly crowded hallways, you can feel the stares and glances of other students. Oh, look, there's Loveless Lalonde, they say. Or perhaps it's just your imagination talking.

You make it to the gym and- damn, there's Kanaya again with that annoying red scraplet of paper. She sees you and waves you over to the bleachers. Today just had to be the one day the class wasn't doing anything. You go reluctantly, but can you really say that since your heart is so eager?

"Hello, Rose." Says the beautiful female. She holds up the red paper thing, but you turn away and ignore it. "I'd like to-"

You cut her off. "Not now, Kanaya. I've got to study."

Kanaya says no more and sits quietly for the rest of the period while you pretend to look tediously through your notes. When the end of the period comes, Kanaya stands and leaves without so much as a wave goodbye.

You feel something- perhaps that hollow thing you call a heart?- in your chest clench painfully. You'd upset the girl, and now she was angry with you. Why, oh _why_ couldn't you have just listened to her? You admit begrudgingly to yourself that it was probably because you couldn't stand to hear Kanaya talk about her Valentine.

You decide that you will apologize to her the next time you see her, and rise as you heave your bag over your shoulder, heading to your locker so that you can switch out your books. You feel utterly awful for treating Kanaya the way you did, so you probably look as dejected as you feel. Emotions flaring, you walk up to your locker and spin your combination only to find a familiar-looking scrap of red paper when you swing open the small metal door. Picking it up, you realize that the "scap" is actually a very intricate paper rose. Your heart leaps to your throat and falls to your feet at the same time. How COULD you? How could you treat Kanaya so awfully?

But here was that rose, a rose for _you_! You're ecstatic. As you're staring mouth agape at the rose, you suddenly feel a tap on your shoulder and you turn around only to get a gentle peck on the cheek from none other than Kanaya herself.

"Do you like your rose, Rose?" She asks with a soft giggle.

Dumbly, you nod. "Yes..."

"Would you be my Valentine?"

You stare for a moment before pulling Kanaya into a hug, your arms circling around her neck while you hope that your embrace is answer enough.


End file.
